Chemical kids, mechanical brides
by TheInkredibleHanny
Summary: I know clockwork prince is coming out soon, but I re-read clockwork angel and typed up my little version of how clockwork prince could turn out! R&R please! Enjoy!
1. Chapter 1

**a/n: hey, guys! Thanks for giving this a shot! I'm thinking of turning this story into a cross-X with a very random, yet useful, character! Tell me what you guys think so far! Enjoy! **

Tessa was sitting in a chair. It was wooden, uncomfortable, but she was too scared to make herself more comfortable. The Dark sisters had walked in, closed the door quietly behind them, and locked it. Tessa gulped and tried to stop shaking so violently.

"Don't worry, Theresa. You are back with us now; there is no reason to be scared. It will be just like old times," Ms. Black said.

"You're not real," Tessa whispered, and the chair disappeared from under her. She was falling toward the earth, she could clearly see the tops of trees and streets and buildings and people, small as ants- growing larger. The ground swam up to greet her, hard and uninviting, an almost certain death.

She hit the ground…

And shot up in her bed.

It was just a dream, Tessa told herself. Just a very bad, unrealistic dream. The Dark sisters were _dead_. Still, even though she reassured herself over and over, she could not find sleep once more. With a weary sigh, Tessa slid out of her bed and went to go find a robe.

It was summer- at least that's what Tessa was told. The weather in London was absolutely dreadful. The sky was always dark. A nice day in England compared to a nice day in America varied so differently it was as if Tessa was thrown into a different world.

And she practically was, wasn't she? By coming to London to find her brother (the wicked traitor) she had been thrown by force into a world that she had no idea existed. She was told of things that she would have never imagined. And she was one of those things. No one knew exactly what, but Tessa had a dawning sense of dread that, whatever it was, it was not anything good.

She shivered and wondered what time it was. Would anyone still be up? She decided against looking for anyone to talk to, it must have been extremely late- or early. She would get a quick glass of water to calm her nerves and then go back to bed.

It had been so long before the nightmares had started back up again. Tessa had almost begun to hope that the Dark sisters and everything that they had brought with them was in the past, behind her, completely forgotten.

But it wasn't, of course. If it was she wouldn't be in this Institute in London, she wouldn't have met Charlotte, or Henry, or Jessabelle, Jem, Will… Will, with his dark tussled hair, blue eyes, and all over perfect face. Will, with his stubborn attitude, menacing smile, and sweet lips. Will, the same very man who had rescued her from the Dark sisters, the same very man who will hardly speak to her now.

Tessa sighed. "Oh, Will…" she whispered, more in a tone of annoyance than anything else. Why couldn't he just say what he was really feeling? Like the heroes in her novels would. They would admit their love for the woman unabashedly.

"You rang?" came from the shadows.

Tessa gasped and whirled around to see Will stepping from behind a corner. He looked carelessly frayed, as always, but tonight the disarray didn't exactly look planned, Tessa thought as he sauntered towards her. He moved gracefully, like and angel, truly.

Even in the dim light, Tessa was unnerved by the blue of Will's eyes as they looked her over casually.

All of the events leading up to the carefully contained look Will was giving Tessa right then bored into her head. The Dark Sister's house, the battle at de Quincey's town house—the way Will had kissed her, the Institute's attack brought on by Mortmain and his mechanical army, the way he had held her in the Sanctuary when he thought that he had been too late to save her… The Institute's roof where he told her that it would never work between them—was impossible.

"Is there any particular reason you're wandering the halls at this hour?" Will asked.

Tessa was not sure of the hour, or why she was even still talking to Mr. Herondale, but she knew she did not want to stop anytime soon. Being near Will was like being allowed a drink of water after wandering in the desert for days. All of this came into her mind at that question, but out loud she only said, "I could ask you the same question, Mr. Herondale."

He smiled, though it did not quite reach his fathomless eyes. "I tend to stumble upon you at the most random of times," he mused, though he really did not seem entertained by that fact, "yet, you never seem surprised to see me."

"I couldn't sleep," Tessa said, "I had a bad dream."

"About me?"

Tessa flushed. She was thankful for the sparse light in the corridor, hoping that Will wouldn't notice. "Must you think _everything _is about—"

"You said my name," Will cut in smoothly. "I find it odd that I would be in a _bad_ dream, which is why I asked." His grin was simply angelic.

"You," Tessa said, more grave than she had thought intended, "are truly only in my worst nightmares, William Herondale."

His grin only faltered for an instant, if at all. "Even so," he said quietly, "nightmare or not, I seem to be in your head, with no chance of ever leaving."

Tessa had only begun to think of a response when Will turned on his heels and strode away, disappearing once again into the shadows. As she watched him go, she was oddly reminded of one of the first days that she was here, when Will showed her around the large institute. When he had read the lines of Horace to her.

_We are dust and shadows_, Will's voice whispered in the back of her head.

"Ugh," Jessamine said in disgust as she pushed the newspaper away from her with one finger, as if it were covered in slime. "There is no way any person with any sort of class would be seen at one of those—those shows."

Jem picked up the abandoned paper and read aloud, "Ladies and gentleman, Trommain and Company brings you the newest, most horrifying Freakshow of the century."

Tessa, who had overslept and arrived late to breakfast, still munched on toast and jam while all of the shadowhunters around her talked.

_Nephlim_, she thought as she watched all of them, _are an odd, odd group of people… and not bad to look at, either_, she mused. They were all beautiful people in their own ways. Jem, with his ivory and silver, reminded her of a true angel, shining through his complexion as well as his personality. Jessamine was pale and slender as well, the real life _Madonna, _with blonde curled hair and brown doe eyes. Charlotte was small, but you could almost forget her size compared to her superiority, which along with her brown hair and stern eyes was beautiful in and of itself. Henry, on the other hand, was all bright colors and lights from his shock of ginger hair, to his striped waistcoat. And Will…

Was staring at her. Both of them were momentarily transfixed as she studied him and he studied her. Will was a dark Knight, Sir Galahad gone bad. With a mess of black hair, golden skin, and those incomparable blue irises of his, he was the most beautiful man she had ever seen.

Will, though it would kill him to admit, was looking at her as if what he saw wasn't entirely horrid either, though Tessa could never guess why. She had always been fine with the fact that she was "plain as a pin", as Jessie had once put it. Brown hair, a pale face, and grey eyes, were not really much to look at. For once, she was the first to break their gazes apart.

"Personally," Jessamine went on, "I think that a show like that is only for the ignorant and low class. Besides," she said, examining her nails as Will skimmed through the advertisement beside Jem, "it's not as if they're even _real_."

"Oh," Will said, "this one is real, you can count on that. In fact," he said with a smile, "one of our dear friends is starring in it." He lay the paper down in front of everyone so they could see what he meant. Tessa leaned forward to see, curious.

Pictured advertisements were not usually so large, or so detailed. The owner of this circus must have put a great deal of money into the making and publicity of the show. The ad on the table before her took up an entire page, and the pictures were drawn of the main events of the show.

The one that caught her attention, though, was of a beautifully girl with fangs and blood dripping down her chin. She was smiling wickedly.

"Camille?" Tessa asked in shock. "But… she's on our side, right?"

Will deftly snatched the paper from Tessa's reaching fingers. He looked at the picture closely, his black hair falling in front of his face. "Obviously a fake," he announced, tossing the paper back onto the table. "Camille would never wear anything that dreadfully drab."

"But it could very well still be her," Charlotte said, picking the paper back up and examining it herself.

"You know what this means, then," said Will, his blue eyes lighting with excitement.

Charlotte sighed, shaking her head. "No, Will, you will not go gallivanting into a freak-show, arresting the ringmaster on the spot. I forbid it." Though her tone rang with finality, Charlotte looked more weary than angry. Tessa wondered if Charlotte ever regretted never being able to have any children of her own, or if the adopted children here were enough to drive her out of that wishful state.

"Of course not," Will said, assuming an injured air. After a pause he added, "We will be in disguise, of course."

"I hope you get to wear the woman's wig and bodice this time," Jem said ruefully into his teacup.

"Tessa can come along as a date to make it more convincing," Jessamine, surprisingly, cut in and suggested. "Well, of course I am to accompany her," she continued as everyone at the table looked at her with shock. "It would look awfully strange if only one of the boys has a date." It looked like she knew she was going to win this argument, though, however shocked anyone was.

"Well, I don't know," Charlotte began, still uncertain.

"Don't worry, Charlotte," Jem said with an earnest look. "It's only a circus act. What's the worst that can happen?"

"The worst that can happen?" Will said with a frown as they stalked toward the circus tent. "Hmm, I don't know, maybe the fact that this could be a trap."

Jem rolled his eyes.

"Must you always think of the worst possible scenario?" Tessa asked, half jogging to keep up with the boy's long legged stride. Unlike Jessie said, she did not stay with them as they left for the circus, she demanded to be dropped off in town, where she said she would be until the other three had finished what business they were planning on doing.

"Yes," Will said, deciding for once to respond directly to Tessa- though he didn't look at her, "I must."

Once the tickets were bought, and Jem and Will's argument over how realistic the bearded ladies beard at the ticket booth was, the three found a seat.

"So this is what we're doing the whole time?" Tessa asked, looking around her. To her surprise, the seats were filling up quickly.

Jem nodded. "If we see that Camille is here willingly, we do nothing. If not, we will confront those who have taken her, but we will do so inconspicuously."

Once it was time for the show to start, the lights flipped off. Tessa jumped and grabbed at her armrest, which was already sporting Will's arm. She could almost feel him smiling in the dark.

A single spotlight shone down in the pit where the show was to take place, bringing into light the ring master, who was dressed in a red suit with matching gloves and a large black hat, the shadow hiding his bent face so you could only see his smile. "Ladies and gentlemen," he said, his voice echoing impressively through the stadium. He laughed slowly and said, "It's time."

The lights turned off, and the screams that erupted through the theatre sounded eerily inhuman. Tessa shivered as she tried- in vain- to look and see what was happening.

"Not good," Will muttered, and she felt him search around for something next to her.

A moment later a dull pulsing light blazed to life, illuminating the space all around the three, but no more than that. Jem raised the witchlight in his hand higher, the light spilling through his fingers like a tiny bleeding sun, but the darkness was still overwhelming.

Will looked at Jem sideways. His eyes glowed in the light emanating from the small stone, making them look like fire behind a sheet of ice. "I think 'I told you so' is a little out of the question," he said slyly.

Jem ignored that comment, rising from his seat and walking down into the pit that the show was just in.

But something was wrong. Tessa rose out of her seat, looked around. "They're gone," she said, wheeling to look at Jem, who was staring at her curiously. "They're all gone."

And it was true. Every single person that had once inhabited the tent that they were just in had disappeared.

Neither of the shadowhunters said a word, both of their faces looked like they were carved from stone, the shadows casted from the witchlight highlighting their prominent cheek bones- though Jem's were much more sallow and sunken in. In the light of the stone he looked more I'll than he could have ever let on in the light of the day.

There was suddenly a crash and what seemed to be a faint roar coming from outside of the tents. Within seconds the boys were disappearing out of the entrance of the tent, seraph blades brandished.

Leaving Tessa in darkness. But before she could think of what to do, a voice came from the darkness.

"Ladies and gentlemen!" the voice rang out, Tessa whirled around, but saw nothing. "Gather round, gather round! Come from far, come from wide!"

Suddenly, a light blazed through the darkness, making Tessa wince. It was a single spotlight, in the middle of the pit that the chairs were circling around. In the center of the light was the figure of a man, an unmistakable man that Tessa never thought she would see again. From this distance, she could see Axil Mortmain smile wickedly up at her. "Tonight, the moment you've all been waiting for!" He moved his arms in a wide arc, a movement that she had incorporated with ring leaders. "Join us as we explore the spine-chilling mystery of death, and the miracle of resurrection!"

Tessa whirled to see two people walking quickly toward her. There was something inhuman about the way they moved..

And then they were dragging her by the arms down to the spotlight, where the magister was patiently waiting for her.

Tessa kicked and clawed, all to no avail. In no time she was dragged to face the Magister.

"Well, well," the Magister said, his breath sickly-sweet as it her face, "Tessa, it has been quite some time. I nearly believed you were dead."

Tessa said nothing, looked down at the floor, trying to think of a plan.

"I hope you realize the amount of trouble you're in for pulling that little stunt with me," he said gravely. "Trust me when I say this, I don't want to kill you. It's nothing personal, but if I can't have you..." he shrugged, then held up a hand as Tessa opened her mouth to call for Will and Jem. "I wouldn't worry about your shadowhunter friends. I locked them out of the tent, and distracted them with a couple of Ravener demons. They won't be here to save you this time."

Tessa's stomach fell as the Magister grinned evilly. "I hope I didn't crush your hopes too much?" he asked kindly, rolling his eyes. "Please, Tess-"

"Do not call me Tess," was all Tessa said to that.

He raised an eyebrow. "Nickname from a special friend?" he asked curiously. Stupidly, Tessa blushed. He smiled. "I thought so. Do not look so surprised, my dear," he said as Tessa pulled her eyebrows together- how did he know so much?- and looked down, "I know of your affections for Master William." He pulled something out then, something long and sharp- Tessa didn't look at it. "I see the way you say his name in your sleep," the Magister said carelessly.

He was right in front of her now, whispering in her ear, sending chills down her spine. The grips of the mechanical people holding on to her arms did not let up at all. She felt something sharp and cold pressing into the soft skin of her neck. "I'll let you in on a secret, Tess," he whispered confidingly, "he said your name as well."

Tessa heard a horrible ripping sound, just then, and knew it was her skin, peeling away from bone, sending her into a world she was not ready for.

**a/n: And theres chapter one! Hope you guys liked it! Tell me what you all think! Peace! **


	2. Chapter 2

**a/n: hello, all! So FF has been malfunctioning on my computer recently. I dont know what it is, but I tried it on my laptop and it works fine enough, so with all that said and done, I apologize for the delay and I'll end my little tirade here so you all can read and I can update my other FFs!cc: Enjoy!**

"Damnit, Tess, move!"

It was an odd welcome to heaven, Tessa had to admit, but the voice definitely belonged to an angel of Heaven.

What didn't belong in Heaven was the screeching sound of ripping metal, coming from right next to her ears. Suddenly Tessa was shoved to the floor, a lean muscled body jumping on top of her. She opened her eyes just long enough to see that it was Will, shielding her from two of the robots who had just exploded, raining sparking bits of cogs and wires.

Will's arms were tensed as he wrapped them around Tessa and brought her to her feet. "Get out of the tent, Tessa," he ordered, his voice low and urgent. "Stay there until we come and get you."

"Will!" Jem shouted in warning.

Will spun, shoving Tessa back as two more clockwork creatures came whirling toward the two. Tessa tripped over her skirts and went down, staring up in horror as Will fought a mechanical man with a mace instead of an arm. While he was preoccupied, two other clockwork creatures came up from behind and snagged him by the arms. He gave a cry of fury, kicking out at one of the clockwork people in front of him and crumpling the midsection of the one he made contact with in half.

Jem, who had been handling the remainder of the creatures with more grace than he should have had, looked just as horrified as Tessa felt when Mortmain walked up and pressed the same knife he used on Tessa underneath Will's jaw.

"This wasn't exactly how I planned, but it will have to do," Mortmain said, a wicked gleam in his eye.

He turned to Tessa then, who was still sprawled on the floor looking up with shock and fear. "My dear Tess," he said. mocking sweetness and sincerity. "Unless you want the Nephlim boy to die, you will swear to come with me on your own accord."

"Tessa," Will said dangerously, "don't."

"I wouldn't run that obnoxious mouth of yours too much," Mortmain warned, pressing the blade harder into the skin at Will's throat.

Will hardly seemed to notice, he was focusing intently on Tessa. Almost imperceptibly, he shook his head. _Be smart. Make the right choice_, his eyes seemed to say.

Tessa slowly reached into her pocket, an idea blossoming in the back of her head like a freshly blooming flower. "And what happens when I leave with you?" Tessa asked quietly.

Will looked furious. His gaze was absolutely lethal. "Tessa," he warned.  
>Tessa looked away from Will to Mortmain, afraid Will would cause her mind to wander in the wrong direction.<p>

Mortmain looked at her with steady gray eyes, the face of a hard working sailor. An honest man. But Tessa knew the truth. "Well out of the way of your Shadowhunter friends to interfere, we would carry on with my original plan."

Tessa was inconspicuously digging through the pockets of her skirt, reaching slowly until- her finger brushed the smooth round button. Tessa had no idea why she had kept it in her pocket at all, even as a sort of keepsake to remember the past it was odd to keep something so trivial on her person.  
>"Let Will go," Tessa yelled to the mechanical men holding Will down.<p>

Mortmain chuckled as Will looked at me, his eyes intense but giving nothing away. "Silly girl, my army only obeys my commands. My voice is what controls them."

"Oh," Tessa said, closing her fist around the object in her hand and squeezing her eyes shut, "I was counting on that."

In no time Axil Mortmain appeared in her dress. Too big for the build, the fabric ripped, but Tessa hardly had time to notice. "Let Will go," she commanded steadily.

True to his word, the creatures dropped Will and walked away.

"You _little_-" Mortmain began, making his way toward Tessa, knife raised.

And suddenly Will was there between them, looking murderous. "This doesn't end well for you," he said calmly, his tone dangerously measured. He seemed as though he was merely stating a fact, not instigating a threat.

Mortmain glared daggers at Tessa as she changed back into her regular form. "I brought you, a raw power, into this world, Theresa Gray. And I can sure as hell take you back out of it."

Before anyone could say a thing, he had disappeared.

"That damn ring of his," Will muttered. "I imagine that ring, and the finger along with it, will be mine next time I see his damned face..." he trailed off darkly.

"Will," Jem said, "let's get back to the institute. We must tell Charlotte right away."

Will took a deep breath and then nodded. He crouched down before Tessa and studied her face. "Are you alright?" he asked quietly. She noticed Jem averted his eyes. She had also noticed that this was the most eye contact the two of them had made in a very long time.

Mortmain's words came back to her as soon as he asked. _He said your name as well..._  
>Blushing, Tessa merely nodded.<p>

Will offered and hand and helped her to her feet. "Good," he said, "because we're going to be running through the whole bloody town hunting down Jessamine."

In the end it took a good hour to track down Jessamine. When Will finally appeared beside the carriage with her, she looked scornfully at Tessa as she settled onto the seat next to Jem. "You look dreadful," she said as Will climbed in and closed the door behind him. John, the new coach driver, pulled on the reigns and steered the coach into the afternoon traffic.

Mindful that her dress was horribly ripped from the transformation, Tessa crossed her arms tightly over her chest. She was thankful that Will had draped his coat over her shoulders to cover her up, but even that didn't feel like enough. "Fitting trouble with the dress," she muttered.

"Not that," Jessie said, her eyebrows pulling down in what looked like concern, "your _face_, Tessa. It's cut."

Tessa reached up and tenderly touched her cheek. Sure enough, it came away wet with blood. "Just a scratch," Tessa reassured everyone. From the corner of her eye she could see Will looking at her intently, though she couldn't figure out what exactly the gaze meant.

Once the others were reassured that Tessa was alright, they all lapsed into silence.

Well, almost all of them.

Will gloated the whole ride back. "I don't understand why no one listens to me," he began. "It isn't as if I'm ever wrong. Why can none of you ever accept that fact?"

"Maybe because you make up silly things such as demon-pox," Jem said, seemingly bored.

Will's stare turned dark. "There is such a thing," he said defensively. "I've seen it myself."

"Where?" Jem challenged.

That shut Will up.

The carriage pulled up to the front of the Institute and everyone climbed out. It was all Tessa could do not to shove everyone out of her way and sprint to her wardrobe.

Until a terrible pain wracked through her chest, lighting starbursts of pain behind her closes eyelids. She knew she was screaming, but couldn't focus on anything but the horrible pain. _I'm dying_, she thought. She could feel her back arching, and she knew she was falling, though her mind was going dim.

Distantly she felt arms wrap around her as she plummeted and knew it was Will. She could barely hear him saying her name.

And then she heard nothing, felt none.

**a/n: well theres the second chappie! I threw in some more Will/Tessa action for those of you who requested it. (I rather enjoy some Wilessa myself) Im def coining that term. anywho, reviews are much appreciated! They motivate me to work that much faster! Thanks guys! Peace! **


	3. Chapter 3

**a/n: hey, guys! So I've had the next chapter done for a while, but the fanfiction site kept messing up on me! It wouldnt let me upload anything or edit anything! But its back up and I've updated as soon as I possibly could! Enjoy! **

Tessa woke to jumbled thoughts and blurred images before her eyes. As she adjusted her sight to the dim light of the room, she recognized the Silent Brother that had tended to her once before.

_You have a blockage in your mind_, came a voice through the cracks and crevices of Tessa's mind. _I assume that whomever you have dappled with does not want you to anymore._

Deflated, Tessa settled back against the pillows.

"Thank you, brother Enoch," Charlotte said, rising from her chair next to Tessa's bed. Standing next to brother Enoch, Charlotte seemed almost unbearably small, like a child caught in her older brothers looming shadow.

Brother Enoch said nothing, simply walked out of the room as quietly as he came. Tessa shivered, still not quite used to the ways of the Silent Brothers.

"Oh, Tessa," Charlotte said. "I saw you all come in, and you were in Will's arms..." she trailed off, settling back into the chair. "I thought you were dead."

"Unfortunately," Tessa said, "it was merely a ghastly little nap." She bit her lip, then, knowing that she sounded almost exactly like Will.

Charlotte gave a rueful little smile. "Well," she said, "you're alright now. Rest up, dinner will be served in a little while, I shall send Sophie up to get you."

Sophie, Tessa had recently come to realize, had grown quiet and distant. The light she had in her eyes before had been snuffed out.

When she was sent to retrieve Tessa to help dress her, Tessa felt a pang of ache for the girl. They all had been through so much, and Sophie had only then come to realize, while he was dying, that Thomas had loved her the way she had always dreamed of being loved.

Sophie said nothing as she helped Tessa into a dark blue gown that Jessie had once said "complimented your dull eyes". Tessa hadn't heard Sophie speak for such a long time, she only remembered the last time they had spoken. It was in a situation much like the one they were in now.

_"Miss Gray?"_

_"Yes, Sophie?"_

_"I don't mean to be so bold, miss, but I was curious about you and Mr. Herondale." She flushed._

_"What?" was all Tessa could think to respond._

_"Well, miss, I certainly hope that you two never have..." She trailed off suggestively._

_Now it was Tessa's turn to redden. "That is too bold, Sophie," she said. "But no. Nothing happened."_

_"Please keep it that way." Was the last thing she said._

"Sophie," Tessa asked quietly, not wanting to disturb the girl too much.

Sophie nodded in response.

"Who is Cecily?"

Sophie stilled. A spark lit behind her eyes once more, but she had gone pale. "I wouldn't be throwing that name around as nonchalantly as you are now," she finally said.

"Who is she?" Tessa repeated.

"Where did you hear it?" Sophie retorted.

Tessa was inevitably thrown back into that night in the attic. She was swarmed with sweet, warm memories, so shortly unperturbed, like a sunny day before rainclouds move in to blot out the warmth and drench you to the bone. "Will mentioned it," she managed to day.

"I imagine you overheard it," Sophie corrected. "And I do not wish to be the one to tell you. If Will wishes you to know it, you will know, in due time." She took a step back and examined me. "There," she said, "you're presentable.

Dinner was unusually quiet, giving Tessa the impression that she had missed something going on between the Shadowhunters while she was bed ridden.

As if sensing the tension, Charlotte smiled and said, "the weather-"

Will rolled his eyes. "Cut it, Charlotte."

"Will..." Jem said in warning.

"I'm not going to plaster a smile on my face and play pretend for the girl's sake," Will replied. He avoided looking at Tessa as he said this, though.

"Oh, calm down, Will," Jessamine said coldly. "It's not as if you-"

"I said cut it, Jessamine," Will said, voice like venom.

Jessamine paid no mind. "I heard you. I was just saying-"

"What you have to say is irrelevant."

"Will," Tessa was surprised that the word came out of her mouth. "What on _earth_ is the matter with you?"

He glared at her so darkly she thought she was stabbed for a moment. "I will not have a girl like you talk down to me, Ms. Gray. Next time I advise you to hold your tongue."

"I am just as old as you, William Herondale," Tessa replied, "and no one should speak to any lady with the harshness that is shining through your words, ever."

"You, too, are irrelevant."

That stung, but Tessa wouldn't dare let that show. "I suppose if that were true," she said quietly, "you wouldn't be as worked up as you are now."

Will stood from the table, so quickly that his movements were barely registered to Tessa. "Honestly," he said looking around, "the lot of you!" He opened his mouth to continue, but met Tessa's gaze. He clicked his mouth shut and nodded his head. It was as if someone had come by with a rag and wiped his face expressionless. Face blank, he said, "I bid you all good night."

He walked away without another word.

Tessa followed.

She wasn't sure exactly why, or how she would ever be able to catch up with Will's powerful, long-legged stride, but she followed.

"Tessa-" Jem called out as she stormed out of the dining room.

She caught up to him in the hall, her stride purposeful, her grip forceful as she grabbed Will's arm and yanked him around to look at her.

His face was carefully controlled, but Tessa could see that behind his bottle-glass blue eyes that there was chaos.

"How dare you speak to me like... Like..." she trailed off, at a loss for words.

Will yanked his arm out of her grip. "Get over yourself," he said quietly. "I'm tired of the 'woe is me' act, Tess."

Tessa swallowed any response, merely lifted her eyebrows in question.

"Yes, poor you. You wish you were never thrown into this world, I get it. And you know what? You're right. I wish you never were either." His expression was vacant as he looked her up and down slowly.

Argument forgotten, Tessa couldn't see or hear anything. Blood was pumping heavily through her body, and all she could think was _get out_.

Pushing her way past Will, she ran down the hall and out of the Institute.

Once the cool air of london hit her, her mind cleared and all she could think of then was the look Will gave her as he said _You, too, are irrelevant_.

She bit back a sob and looked at the sky. He wished her gone? Fine, then, she would leave.

When she had finally run out of steam, Tessa had already done a fair amount of wandering the streets of London. Now lost and a bit cold, Tessa had really no choice but to start looking for the Institute once more.

"Tessa?" she heard an unmistakable voice calling.

When she rounded the corner and saw Will, she immediately recoiled, turning and walking away from him.

"Stop, Tess," Will said as he caught up to her.

"However used you might be to getting your way, I am not accustomed to following your every order, Mr. Herondale."

Will sighed. "Please, Tess."

Stubbornly, Tessa kept walking.

He sighed again. "Then at least allow me to accompany you on this walk."

Tessa was not expecting _that_. She was almost completely sure he would have done something like thrown her over his shoulder and force her back to the Institute.

Then she remembered the time she talked with Jem. He had followed Will one night, and noticed that all he did was walk around London. Maybe Will understood why Tessa was walking more than she herself did.

"Very well," she said.

The streets were relatively quiet for the time of day, they were usually crowded during sunset. Tessa was surprised no one seemed to be out enjoying just how beautiful the sunset looked over the Thames river. The ball of fading light looked almost red, casting off angry rays of fire through the sky, making it seem as if the heavens had  
>been set ablaze.<p>

"It's my favorite place to be at sunset," Will said, "here along the river."

Tessa nodded and said, "I can see why." There was still a hint of tension in both of their voices still, the ghost of Will's outburst still hanging heavily between them.

"Tess," Will said, a whole world of sentences and meaningful words packed into that single syllable.

Tessa turned to look at him. The red of the sun hit his eyes, turning them into an indescribable blue, an almost exact replica of the sun setting over the Thames. Though the churning water of the river beside them could never have hoped to echo the ghost of despair and sadness behind the blue fire of will's irises.

"Tessa," he said taking a determined step toward her. "I was put here on this earth to rid the world of all of the wrong. To be a safeguard against the wickedness and snares of the devil, to cast to hell all the evil that prowls through the world."

Tessa knew he was quoting a prayer. She could tell by the way that he recited it, as if he were repeating a studied course of material to a teacher.

Will laughed, suddenly. It wasn't a happy laugh. "And then I met _you_," was all he said. His eyes took on a distant look. "You were just so unmistakably human when I found you, but there was something underneath, something that no other woman possessed."

Tessa sighed. "Yes, I know. You don't often meet too many women that can change their form like me."

Will was still looking steadily at her. "No," he said, "no I wasn't thinking of that at all."

Tessa's hand brushed against the bark of a tree just then. Odd. The two of them must have unconsciously drifted back into the trees that lined the river. She looked behind her, almost instinctually, only to see more forestry behind her, growing more and more dense the farther she looked.

She turned around- and yelped in surprise. Will was now standing right in front of her, his face merely inches from her own. Her heart was beating very quickly now, she noticed distantly.

"I met you, and my whole life changed. I met you, and I suddenly had something living inside of me." Will's voice was shaking slightly as he spoke, as if he knew what he was saying but was unable to stop. "You we're someone different, vulnerable, brave, caring, kind, and I couldn't help but thinking that I could see myself with you, Tessa."

He took a deep breath. "I'm sorry," he started, "you had to hear this so suddenly. I'm sure a proper gentleman would have had better timing." He smiled ruefully. "And I'm sorry for snapping earlier. It's just- as much as you mean to me, Tess... You get under my skin. There are just some things that no one can even hope to know of this world."  
>His smile faded, and Tessa wasn't even sure he was talking to her anymore. "You can try to figure it out, spend nights alone with your thoughts, your memories- and you still won't understand."<p>

"Will," Tessa said, not wanting him to berate himself in front of her, "Will it's alright."

Will's eyes flicked up to hers, suddenly lit with amusement. "No, not really," he said in reply. "Like I said earlier, my job on earth is to protect someone like you-" he stepped closer- "from people like me. With intentions like mine."

They were now standing so close together that they could have been counted as one whole person. Tessa could feel Will's heart through his clothes and hers. She took a shaky breath and looked up to meet Will's perpetually blue eyes. "I never coined you as one to follow directions, Mr. Herondale," Tessa whispered.

He smiled in that way he always did, that way that makes a woman's heart leap and dance through her veins. It was happening to Tessa now as Will slowly inclined his head toward hers, his mouth just barely brushing across hers, a ghost of the kiss that they had shared in the attic.

Tessa wanted more.

Heart hammering, she grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled him closer. Her desire seemed almost palpable as he pressed her against him, her pulse beating in her ears like the sound of a hundred synchronized footsteps.

Will tensed and stilled, his arms around her waist.

The sound of footsteps grew louder.

"What on earth?" Tessa said half to herself as she looked at the shapes marching through the trees.

Faceless, human-like forms advanced through the trees toward the two, their hands reaching like hundreds of grotesque over-grown children.

Tessa bit back a scream.

Without a word, Will turned Tessa toward the woods and the two began to run.

The trek was toilsome, especially in a dress like Tessa had on. She was sure the only reason that she had not fallen was Will's hand on her arm, steadying her as they moved through the trees.

The tree-line began thinning out and Tessa let out a sigh of relief.

And then sucked it back in when she realized why the line had thinned.

The two were now standing at the bank of the Thames, the water writhing beneath them like an enraged liquid beast. Tessa distantly heard the footsteps of the mechanical army behind her.

"Will," she said.

"I'm working on it," he replied.

As he thought, the mechanical army grew closer and closer. Some had even started running. Tessa grabbed the boy's arm and yelled, "Mr. Herondale!"

"Can you swim?" he asked.

"In a _dress?_"

"Yes."

The monsters were almost on top of them by now.

Will held out his hand. "Trust me. Please."

Taking one last shaky breath, she took his outstretched hand.

They jumped.

**a/n: I have the next chapter planned out already! I'll write it down and then upload it as soon as I get some reviews! As always, I hope you all enjoyed this chappie! Tell me what you think so far! Peace! **


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey guys! Sorry this is so short! But I promise the next one will be longer, and there will be more Jem, for all you fans of his! Even though I am team Will all the way, I'll appease all of my readers! Thanks so much for the wonderful reviews and the kind words that encouraged me to write the next chapter! Your reviews got me to work much faster than if I was getting no love at all! Anywho! Enjoy!c:**

Tessa was drenched as she stood and faced the magister. He smiled wickedly as he cleaned the blood off of the knife he held.

"You knew this would happen, Tessa," he said maliciously as he started toward her. She would not cower, she would not look down or show defeat. "You knew the consequences."

She expelled a breath as Mortmain came to stand directly in front of her. "Now your dear William will never see the light of day again."

Finally she allowed herself to look at the thing at her feet. It was Will, his wide blue eyes now lifelessly stared up at her. The hem of her dress was soaked in his blood. Tessa choked back a sob. _Will, Will, Will, _her mind screamed at her. _No. No. I am so sorry. I love- _

"And neither will you," Mortmain whispered as he brought the knife down into her chest.

Tessa gasped and leapt into a sitting position. The first thing she registered was the fire she was laying in front of. It burned her eyes as she looked at it, the embers glowing bright white, melting into softer gold and orange hues as the fire grew higher. The second thing registered was Will, who was sitting a few feet away from her, stoking the flames. He looked as immaculate as ever, like an angel just decided to jump down out of heaven to tend to the flames of the small fire in front of her. "Bad dreams?" he asked casually without looking at her.

Tessa flushed as the third realization came. "Where- Will, where are my clothes?" she asked anxiously, tucking her knees up to her chest, her wet slip clinging to her skin. She was almost too mortified and terrified to move. She had been laying in front of him, with _no clothes. _

Will smirked. "Nothing I haven't seen before, Tess. You're welcome, by the way."

Trying to cover herself up as best she could, Tessa asked, "What happened?" Her memory was muddy at best, bits and peices broke through the murk in her mind and made themselves known to her.

_Will's mouth, inches from hers. _

_Centimeters from hers. _

_A noise, an interruption. _

_Running. _

_Will's hand, warm in her own, so comforting. _

_Cold._

Will's lip twitched. "We jumped. That infernal gown of yours nearly drowned us both." Looking over at Tessa, he sighed and threw his workman's jacket over to her. Grateful for the cover, she quickly slipped it on as he continued. "I dragged us both to shore, gave you some mouth to mouth, which I think you rather enjoyed in your half-delusional state. And, after coughing up about a third of the Thames, you passed out." He smiled. "Welcome back."

Slowly, it started coming back to her. "And the clockwork creatures?" Tessa asked as she stood and walked closer to where Will was.

Will stood as well and looked down at her. He had dried more than Tessa, his hair was damp and mussed. Tessa had to fight back to urge to run her fingers through it.

"Gone," he said simply, his endless blue bottle-glass eyes staring down at her in a way that was nearly impossible to decipher to Tessa, no matter how full of emotion they were. "And now that you're up, we should be going as well."

Tessa nodded, her throat ragged and dry. She hoped Will was only joking about the mouth to mouth part. But she could taste the Thames in the back of her throat and knew he was probably speaking truth. A cool breeze swept through the trees and Tessa shivered, frozen and wet.

Will smiled half-heartedly. "Let's hope you don't freeze to death before we reach the Institute," he said as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders. She would have fought him off, naturally, but he was just to warm to shy away from. Shivering once more- and not necessarily from the breeze this time- she let Will steer her through the trees.

It was very dark by the time the two arrived back at the Institute. The two had to hide in the cover of shadows and shy away from the main streets, afraid Tessa would be exposed half-naked and half-drowned.

Before they had even reached the gate to the grounds, the other shadowhunters were outside.

"Oh, my goodness," Charlotte breathed. "What happened?"

"Got in a bit of a rough patch," was all Will said.

"With your clothes?" Henry observed.

Tessa blushed furiously as Will laughed, his eyes alight with amusement. "It's a long story. The removal of Tessa's clothing was crucial for our survival, I assure you."

Jessamine had just walked up and joined the conversation. She looked at the two soaked in front of her and said, "I _knew _you were shacking up." Turning to Tessa she said, "Dear lord, you look like a half-drowned cat. Where did he have his way with you, the bottom of a barrel? And you-" she spun wildly and looked at Will- "I got Tessa that dress as a gift. How dare you discard it. And both of you, canoodling while Jem-" she broke off, biting her lip nervously.

Will had gone deathly still, all humor erased from his face. "Jem?" he asked. "Where is he?"

Before anyone could reply, he had pushed past them and through the doors to the institute.

Tessa looked at all of their faces, pale and worried and-

"Jem," Tessa breathed as she raced into the building as well.

**Wellp! Review? Pleases?c: oh! and If you LOOOVE this story, youll die for my new mortal instruments fanfic! Its the best plot Ive had in a while and no one has reviewed it yet! I would love if you guys told me what you think of it so far!ccc: **

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**Please and thankthankthankyou!c: Peace!**


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